DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/04/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
During examination, claim terms are given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification as that specification would be read by one of ordinary skill in the art (MPEP 2111). The constructions below govern the rejections that follow.
The term channel access configuration is construed as a channel access type, that is, a listen-before-talk procedure of a defined kind selected for a transmission. The specification uses the term in that sense and equates the type 1 channel access procedure with a CAT4 listen-before-talk having a random backoff (Specification, para [0110] “the channel access procedure may be a type 1 channel access procedure. For example, UE C may perform a CAT4 LBT with a random backoff period.”), and it treats the type 1 configuration as the one selected where the feedback occasion falls outside a shared portion of a channel occupancy time (Specification, para [0116] “action 908 may include UE B selecting a type 1 channel access type in response to a COT unavailability indication from at least one of UE A or UE C, or based on the PSFCH occasion being scheduled outside a shared portion of a COT.”).
The term refraining from performing channel access sensing, and the equivalent recitation of transmitting without performing channel access sensing, are construed as transmitting under a channel access configuration that requires no sensing before the transmission (Specification, para [0121] “UE B may be configured to transmit a PSFCH communication based on a short control signaling configuration such that no channel sensing is performed.”).
The term partial automatic gain control (AGC) symbol is construed as a gain-control symbol, occupying a whole symbol or a portion of one, sent with the feedback transmission in the feedback occasion (Specification, para [0122] “transmitting the PSFCH communication may include transmitting an AGC symbol and a PSFCH symbol during the PSFCH occasion and based on the PSFCH configuration.”).
With respect to Claim 30 recites: “A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a sidelink (SL) communication; means for selecting a channel access configuration for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) occasion in a shared frequency band; and means for transmitting. . .” are limitations in the form means for receiving, means for selecting and means for transmitting. Each is a means-plus-function limitation invoking 35 U.S.C. 112(f), because each uses the word means, is modified by functional language, and is not modified by structure sufficient to perform the recited function. The corresponding structure disclosed in the specification is the processor together with the sidelink communication module of the user equipment, which is described as performing those very functions (Specification, para [0128] “the sidelink communication module 1008 may be configured to receive a SL communication, select a channel access configuration for a PSFCH occasion in a shared frequency band, and transmit, based on the selected channel access configuration and the SL communication, a PSFCH communication in the PSFCH occasion in the shared frequency band.”). Claim 30 is examined below as so construed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-12, 15-26, 29 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue (US 2021/0195637 A1) in view of 3GPP TS 37.213 version 16.5.0.
Regarding claim 1, Xue discloses: A method of wireless communication performed in a shared frequency band at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a sidelink (SL) communication, because Xue teaches a sidelink system operating in a shared radio frequency band in which a user equipment receives sidelink data from a peer in an earlier sidelink resource and acknowledges it on the feedback channel, so that the user equipment has received the sidelink communication the feedback answers: (Xue, para [0070] “a shared radio frequency band 301 is partitioned into a plurality of subchannels or frequency subbands 302”; Xue, para [0072] “The PSFCH can be used for carrying feedback information, for example, HARQ ACK/NACK for sidelink data received in an earlier sidelink resource 306”).
Furthermore, Xue discloses: transmitting, based on the channel access configuration and the SL communication, a PSFCH communication in the PSFCH occasion in the shared frequency band, because Xue teaches a physical sidelink feedback channel carried in the ending symbols of the sidelink resource, transmitted in that shared band only after the sidelink user equipment has performed its listen-before-talk in the gap preceding the resource, and carrying the acknowledgement of the sidelink data received earlier, so that the feedback transmission answers to both the received sidelink communication and the outcome of the channel access procedure: (Xue, para [0071] “a sidelink resource 306 may also include a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), for example, located during the ending symbol(s) of the sidelink resource 306”; Xue, para [0073] “to allow time for a sidelink UE to perform an LBT prior to transmitting in a subsequent sidelink resource 306”; Xue, para [0072] “The PSFCH can be used for carrying feedback information, for example, HARQ ACK/NACK for sidelink data received in an earlier sidelink resource 306”).
Although Xue teaches a sidelink user equipment in a shared radio frequency band that performs a listen-before-talk before it transmits in a sidelink resource carrying the physical sidelink feedback channel, and that acknowledges earlier-received sidelink data on that feedback channel: (Xue, para [0071], para [0073]), Xue does not explicitly disclose the selection, for the feedback occasion itself, of a channel access configuration of a defined type, that is, a named channel access procedure chosen for that occasion in the shared frequency band.
However, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses selecting a channel access configuration for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) occasion in a shared frequency band because TS 37.213 teaches a defined family of channel access procedures for shared spectrum from which the equipment takes one for a given transmission, the Type 1 procedure being the member in which the sensing time that must be observed to be idle before the transmission is randomised (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.1, “This clause describes channel access procedures by a UE where the time duration spanned by the sensing slots that are sensed to be idle before a UL transmission(s) is random”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to carry out the listen-before-talk that Xue performs before its feedback-bearing sidelink resource as one of the defined channel access procedures of TS 37.213, selected for that occasion. Xue already conditions every sidelink transmission in the shared band on a listen-before-talk performed in the gap ahead of the resource, and TS 37.213 is the channel access specification that gives those procedures their defined types and their sensing behavior for shared spectrum. Applying the specification's channel access types to Xue's sidelink feedback transmission is the use of a known technique to improve a comparable system in the same way, and it would have yielded no more than the predictable result of a feedback transmission that coexists with other users of the band under the same rules the specification already imposes on every other transmission in it. One of ordinary skill would have had a reasonable expectation of success, since the substitution changes only which defined procedure governs the sensing Xue already performs and leaves Xue's frame structure, its feedback content and its channel occupancy signaling untouched.
Regarding claim 2, which depends on claim 1, Xue discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the SL communication comprises receiving the SL communication from a second UE, and wherein the selecting the channel access configuration comprises selecting, based on the PSFCH occasion not being in a shared portion of a channel occupancy time (COT), a type 1 channel access configuration for the PSFCH occasion, as Xue further discloses the sidelink user equipment performing the CAT4 listen-before-talk, that is the listen-before-talk with a random backoff, in the shared band to win a channel occupancy time of its own, and exchanging that sidelink communication with a peer user equipment inside another user equipment's channel occupancy time only where it has monitored for and received that user equipment's sharing information, so that a feedback occasion falling outside a shared channel occupancy time is left to the random-backoff procedure (Xue, para [0099] “perform an LBT (e.g., a CAT4 LBT) in a shared radio frequency band”; Xue, para [0102] “monitor for a COT indication signal in the shared radio frequency band, receive a COT indication signal indicating sharing information for a COT based on the monitoring, and transmit sidelink communication (e.g., including SCI and/or sidelink data) to a peer in the COT based on the COT sharing information”).
Regarding claim 3, which depends on claim 2, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting the channel access configuration comprises selecting one or more type 1 channel access parameters based on a smallest uplink (UL) channel access priority class value, as TS 37.213 further discloses the randomized sensing of the Type 1 procedure being parameterized by a channel access priority class that is signaled for the transmission, so that fixing the parameters of that procedure is the choice of one class out of the small defined set the specification provides, of which the smallest value is the highest-priority member (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.1, “the time duration spanned by the sensing slots that are sensed to be idle before a UL transmission(s) is random”; TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.0.3, “the eNB/gNB indicates the channel access priority class used to obtain access to the channel”).
Regarding claim 4, which depends on claim 2, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting the channel access configuration comprises selecting one or more type 1 channel access parameters based on a smallest downlink (DL) channel access priority class value, as TS 37.213 further discloses the channel access priority class that fixes those parameters being the one the network side indicates for access to the channel, the network side being the downlink party, so that the downlink class of smallest value is the highest-priority member of the same defined set (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.0.3, “the eNB/gNB indicates the channel access priority class used to obtain access to the channel in the DCI”).
Regarding claim 5, which depends on claim 2, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the selecting the channel access configuration comprises selecting one or more type 1 channel access parameters based on a smallest PSFCH channel access priority class value, as TS 37.213 further discloses the same defined set of priority classes governing whatever transmission the parameters are being fixed for, so that where the transmission is the feedback channel the class of smallest value is again the highest-priority member of that set (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.0.3, “the channel access priority class used to obtain access to the channel”).
Regarding claim 6, which depends on claim 2, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the SL communication indicates a channel access priority class associated with the PSFCH occasion, and wherein the selecting the channel access configuration is based on the indicated channel access priority class, as TS 37.213 further discloses the channel access priority class for a transmission being carried to the transmitting equipment in the control information that schedules it, so that the class governing the feedback occasion reaches the user equipment in the control information it has received and the channel access procedure is then fixed by the class so indicated (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.0.3, “the eNB/gNB indicates the channel access priority class used to obtain access to the channel in the DCI”).
Regarding claim 7, which depends on claim 2, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 2, further comprising: transmitting, after the transmitting the PSFCH communication, a second SL communication associated with a channel access priority class, wherein the selecting the channel access configuration is based on the channel access priority class, as TS 37.213 further discloses the channel access priority class being the parameter that attaches to the transmission for which the channel was won, so that where a further sidelink communication is to follow the feedback transmission the class associated with that further communication is the one that fixes the procedure used to acquire the channel (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.0.3, “the channel access priority class used to obtain access to the channel”).
Regarding claim 8, which depends on claim 2, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 2, wherein: The transmitting the PSFCH communication comprises performing channel access sensing based on the type 1 channel access configuration and a first channel access priority class; and wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, after the transmitting the PSFCH communication and based on the channel access sensing, a second SL communication associated with a second channel access priority class, wherein the second channel access priority class value is equal to or smaller than the first channel access priority class value, as TS 37.213 further discloses the Type 1 procedure sensing the channel with a randomized idle-sensing duration set by the priority class in force, and the class indicated for access to the channel bounding what may be sent once access is won, so that a further sidelink communication following the feedback transmission carries a class no larger in value, and therefore no lower in priority, than the class under which the channel was sensed (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.1, “the time duration spanned by the sensing slots that are sensed to be idle before a UL transmission(s) is random”; TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.0.3, “the channel access priority class used to obtain access to the channel”).
Regarding claim 9, which depends on claim 1, Xue discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the channel access configuration comprises selecting the channel access configuration based on a PSFCH configuration, wherein the PSFCH configuration indicates time resources for the PSFCH occasion, as Xue further discloses the position of the feedback channel inside the sidelink resource being fixed by configuration, at the ending symbols of that resource, so that the configuration of the feedback channel is what tells the user equipment the time resources on which the feedback occasion falls and therefore when the channel must be won for it (Xue, para [0071] “a sidelink resource 306 may also include a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), for example, located during the ending symbol(s) of the sidelink resource 306”).
Regarding claim 10, which depends on claim 9, Xue discloses The method of claim 9, wherein the PSFCH configuration indicates a PSFCH occasion periodicity, and wherein the selecting the channel access configuration is based on the PSFCH periodicity, as Xue further discloses each sidelink frame of the configured resource pool carrying a sidelink resource, and the frames recurring one after another with a listen-before-talk gap inserted between each adjacent pair, so that the configured frame structure fixes how often a feedback occasion comes round and the channel access performed for it falls due at that same recurrence (Xue, para [0071] “Each sidelink frame 304 includes a sidelink resource 306 in each frequency subband 302”; Xue, para [0073] “the sidelink frames 304 in a resource pool 308 may be contiguous in time”).
Regarding claim 11, which depends on claim 10, Xue in view of TS 37.213 discloses The method of claim 10, wherein the transmitting the PSFCH communication comprises refraining, based on the PSFCH periodicity being at or above a configured threshold, from performing channel access sensing for the PSFCH occasion, as TS 37.213 further discloses a channel access procedure under which the equipment sends without sensing the channel at all, which the specification provides as one of the defined types for a transmission that a configured condition qualifies for, so that where the configured recurrence of the feedback occasion reaches the qualifying threshold the sensing is dispensed with for that occasion (TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.2.3, “the UE does not sense the channel before the transmission”).
Regarding claim 12, which depends on claim 10, Xue discloses The method of claim 10, wherein: the transmitting the PSFCH communication comprises transmitting the PSFCH communication without performing channel access sensing in a first portion of an observation window, the method further comprises: selecting, based on the PSFCH configuration, a second channel access configuration associated with a second PSFCH occasion, wherein the second PSFCH occasion is in a second portion of the observation window different from the first portion; and transmitting, based on the second channel access configuration, a second PSFCH communication in the second PSFCH occasion; and the selecting the second channel access configuration is based on a number of PSFCH occasions in the first portion of the observation window, as Xue further discloses a sidelink device that refrains from channel access sensing for what it sends in the first sidelink frame, so that the transmission it makes in that first part of the window goes out without sensing, and that decides whether to sense the channel for a later transmission on the number of failed channel access attempts standing at the device, proceeding with the sensing where that number exceeds a threshold and refraining where it is below, so that the channel access applied to the later occasion is chosen on a count taken from the earlier part of the window (Xue, para [0101] “the sidelink communication module 508 is configured to proceed with performing an LBT within at least a duration of the first sidelink frame if the sidelink UE correctly decoded SCI in the first sidelink frame and the number of LBT failures (e.g., for LBTs with predetermined LBT starting points) at the sidelink UE exceeds a threshold”; Xue, para [0101] “The sidelink communication module 508 is configured to refrain from perform and LBT during the first sidelink frame if the sidelink UE correctly decoded SCI in the first sidelink frame and the number of LBT failures at the sidelink UE is below the threshold”).
Xue counts failed channel access attempts where the claim counts feedback occasions. What the claim requires is that the number of occasions in the first portion be what the second channel access configuration is selected on, and Xue selects the channel access applied to its later transmission on exactly such a number drawn from the earlier part of the window.
To the extent the claim is read to require the tally to be of the feedback occasions themselves, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take that tally, because Xue already conditions the later channel access on how the earlier attempts in the window went, and counting the occasions already sent rather than the attempts that failed is no more than the choice of one available tally over another, with the predictable result of a later channel access chosen on the load already placed on the window.
Regarding claim 15, the claim recites: A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory device; a transceiver; and a processor in communication with the memory device and the transceiver, wherein the UE is configured to: receive a sidelink (SL) communication; select a channel access configuration for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) occasion in a shared frequency band; and transmit, based on the channel access configuration and the SL communication, a PSFCH communication in the PSFCH occasion in the shared frequency band. Claim 15 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 16, which depends on claim 15, the claim recites: The UE of claim 15, wherein the UE is configured to receive the SL communication from a second UE, and wherein the UE configured to select the channel access configuration comprises the UE configured to select, based on the PSFCH occasion not being in a shared portion of a channel occupancy time (COT), a type 1 channel access configuration for the PSFCH occasion. Claim 16 is analogous to claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 17, which depends on claim 16, the claim recites: The UE of claim 16, wherein the UE configured to select the channel access configuration comprises the UE configured to select one or more type 1 channel access parameters based on a smallest uplink (UL) channel access priority class value. Claim 17 is analogous to claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 18, which depends on claim 16, the claim recites: The UE of claim 16, wherein the UE configured to select the channel access configuration comprises the UE configured to select one or more type 1 channel access parameters based on a smallest downlink (DL) channel access priority class value. Claim 18 is analogous to claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 19, which depends on claim 16, the claim recites: The UE of claim 16, wherein the UE configured to select the channel access configuration comprises the UE configured to select one or more type 1 channel access parameters based on a smallest PSFCH channel access priority class value. Claim 19 is analogous to claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 20, which depends on claim 16, the claim recites: The UE of claim 16, wherein the SL communication indicates a channel access priority class associated with the PSFCH occasion, and wherein the UE is configured to select the channel access configuration based on the indicated channel access priority class. Claim 20 is analogous to claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 21, which depends on claim 16, the claim recites: The UE of claim 16, wherein the UE is further configured to: transmit, after the transmitting the PSFCH communication, a second SL communication associated with a channel access priority class, wherein the UE is configured to select the channel access configuration based on the channel access priority class. Claim 21 is analogous to claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 22, which depends on claim 16, the claim recites: The UE of claim 16, wherein: the UE configured to transmit the PSFCH communication comprises the UE configured to perform channel access sensing based on the type 1 channel access configuration and a first channel access priority class; and wherein the UE is further configured to: transmit, after the transmitting the PSFCH communication and based on the channel access sensing, a second SL communication associated with a second channel access priority class, wherein the second channel access priority class value is equal to or smaller than the first channel access priority class value. Claim 22 is analogous to claim 8 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 23, which depends on claim 15, the claim recites: The UE of claim 15, wherein the UE configured to select the channel access configuration comprises the UE configured to select the channel access configuration based on a PSFCH configuration, wherein the PSFCH configuration indicates time resources for the PSFCH occasion. Claim 23 is analogous to claim 9 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 24, which depends on claim 23, the claim recites: The UE of claim 23, wherein the PSFCH configuration indicates a PSFCH occasion periodicity, and wherein the UE is configured to select the channel access configuration based on the PSFCH periodicity. Claim 24 is analogous to claim 10 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 25, which depends on claim 24, the claim recites: The UE of claim 24, wherein the UE configured to transmit the PSFCH communication comprises the UE configured to refrain, based on the PSFCH periodicity being at or above a configured threshold, from performing channel access sensing for the PSFCH occasion. Claim 25 is analogous to claim 11 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 26, which depends on claim 24, Xue discloses The UE of claim 24, wherein: the UE is configured to transmit the PSFCH without performing channel access sensing in a first portion of an observation window, the UE is further configured to: select, based on the PSFCH configuration, a second channel access configuration associated with a second PSFCH occasion, wherein the second PSFCH occasion is in a second portion of the observation window different from the first portion; and transmit, based on the second channel access configuration, a second PSFCH communication in the second PSFCH occasion; and the UE is configured to select the second channel access configuration based on a number of PSFCH occasions in the first portion of the observation window, as Xue further discloses a sidelink device that refrains from channel access sensing for what it sends in the first sidelink frame, so that the transmission it makes in that first part of the window goes out without sensing, and that decides whether to sense the channel for a later transmission on the number of failed channel access attempts standing at the device, proceeding with the sensing where that number exceeds a threshold and refraining where it is below, so that the channel access applied to the later occasion is chosen on a count taken from the earlier part of the window (Xue, para [0101] “the sidelink communication module 508 is configured to proceed with performing an LBT within at least a duration of the first sidelink frame if the sidelink UE correctly decoded SCI in the first sidelink frame and the number of LBT failures (e.g., for LBTs with predetermined LBT starting points) at the sidelink UE exceeds a threshold “)
Xue counts failed channel access attempts where the claim counts feedback occasions. What the claim requires is that the number of occasions in the first portion be what the second channel access configuration is selected on, and Xue selects the channel access applied to its later transmission on exactly such a number drawn from the earlier part of the window. To the extent the claim is read to require the tally to be of the feedback occasions themselves, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to take that tally, because Xue already conditions the later channel access on how the earlier attempts in the window went, and counting the occasions already sent rather than the attempts that failed is no more than the choice of one available tally over another, with the predictable result of a later channel access chosen on the load already placed on the window.
Regarding claim 29, the claim recites: A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, wherein the program code comprises instructions executable by a processor of a user equipment (UE) to cause the UE to: receive a sidelink (SL) communication; select a channel access configuration for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) occasion in a shared frequency band; and transmit, based on the channel access configuration and the SL communication, a PSFCH communication in the PSFCH occasion in the shared frequency band. Claim 29 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 30, the claim recites: A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a sidelink (SL) communication; means for selecting a channel access configuration for a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) occasion in a shared frequency band; and means for transmitting, based on the channel access configuration and the SL communication, a PSFCH communication in the PSFCH occasion in the shared frequency band Claim 30 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 13, 14, 27 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue (US 2021/0195637 A1) in view of 3GPP TS 37.213 version 16.5.0 and further in view of Ye (US 2022/0311582 A1).
Regarding claim 13, which depends on claim 12, even though Xue in view of TS 37.213 teaches the sidelink feedback occasion in the shared band, the channel access procedures from which the configuration for that occasion is taken, and the recurrence of the occasion that decides when sensing may be dispensed with: (Xue, para [0071]; TS 37.213, clause 4.2.1.2.3), Xue in view of TS 37.213 does not explicitly disclose that the configuration of the feedback channel names an automatic gain control symbol occupying part of a symbol for the feedback transmission, nor that the channel access configuration is chosen in light of that symbol.
Yet, Xue in view of TS 37.213 and further in view of Ye discloses The method of claim 12, wherein: the PSFCH configuration indicates a partial automatic gain control (AGC) symbol for PSFCH communication; and the selecting the channel access configuration and the selecting the second channel access configuration is based on the partial AGC symbol because Ye teaches the feedback channel being repeated over two consecutive symbols of the slot so that the first of them serves automatic gain control rather than the acknowledgement itself, leaving the occasion's usable transmission shorter than the symbols it spans by that gain-control portion (Ye, para [0100], “repetition of PSFCH format 1 to two consecutive symbols in a time slot enables configuration where the first symbol may be used for automatic gain control (AGC) training”).
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the feedback occasion of Xue in view of TS 37.213 with the gain-control symbol Ye places at the head of the feedback transmission, and to let that symbol enter the choice of channel access configuration for the occasion. Ye's gain-control symbol is what makes a receiver able to set its gain before the acknowledgement itself arrives, and it consumes part of the occasion, so a skilled artisan choosing how the occasion is to seize the channel would have taken the duration that symbol leaves into account, exactly as the duration of a transmission already governs which of the specification's channel access procedures may be used for it. Combining them is the use of a known technique to improve a comparable system in the same way, with the predictable result of a feedback occasion whose gain-control overhead and whose channel access procedure are settled together.
Regarding claim 14, which depends on claim 10, Xue in view of TS 37.213 and further in view of Ye discloses The method of claim 10, wherein: the PSFCH configuration indicates a partial automatic gain control (AGC) symbol for PSFCH communication; and the selecting the channel access configuration is based on the partial AGC symbol, as Ye further discloses the same gain-control symbol being carried within the slot given over to the feedback transmission, so that the occasion's usable duration is set by the configuration that names it (Ye, para [0104], “An entire slot may be used for PSFCH transmissions with exception of AGC symbol 915 and a GAP symbol 920”).
Regarding claim 27, which depends on claim 26, Xue in view of TS 37.213 and further in view of Ye discloses The UE of claim 26, wherein: the PSFCH configuration indicates a partial automatic gain control (AGC) symbol for PSFCH communication; and the UE is configured to select the channel access configuration and the second channel access configuration based on the partial AGC symbol, as Ye further discloses the feedback channel being repeated over two consecutive symbols of the slot so that the first of them serves automatic gain control rather than the acknowledgement itself, leaving the occasion's usable transmission shorter than the symbols it spans by that gain-control portion (Ye, para [0100], “repetition of PSFCH format 1 to two consecutive symbols in a time slot enables configuration where the first symbol may be used for automatic gain control (AGC) training”).
Regarding claim 28, which depends on claim 24, the claim recites: The UE of claim 24, wherein: the PSFCH configuration indicates a partial automatic gain control (AGC) symbol for PSFCH communication; and the UE is configured to select the channel access configuration based on the partial AGC symbol. Claim 28 is analogous to claim 14 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Accordingly, Xue and TS 37.213 are combined for the reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Conclusion
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/CHONGSUH PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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